MISSION
With an office in each Wisconsin county, Cooperative Extension
develops practical educational programs tailored to local needs
and based on university knowledge and research.
County-based Extension educators are University of Wisconsin
faculty and staff who are experts in agriculture and agribusiness,
community and economic development, natural resources, family
living and youth development.
Extension county-based faculty and staff live and work with
the people they serve in communities across the state. Extension
specialists work on UW System campuses where they access current
research and knowledge. Collaboration between county and campus
faculty is the hallmark of Cooperative Extension in Wisconsin.
ABOUT US
State funded universities and research officially began
in 1862 with Abraham Lincoln's ratification of the Morrill Act
which
endowed states with large parcels of land that were sold
to help fund universities and research stations.
These universities were a great success. They were often free
or of nominal cost to state residents and in many cases the only
source of non-biased information for state residents. This success
paired with more progressive governors of the early 1900's, mainly
Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin and Teddy Roosevelt of New York,
helped influence county level university agents (Wisconsin's
first was in 1912) and eventually the 1914 Smith-Lever Act with
provided federal support for university extension services in
all land-grant universities.
Those progressive notions of making the universities resources
available to every state resident and never letting research
that could improve our lives sit on a shelf are what we try to
make a reality for Waushara residents. We are located in the
basement of the Wautoma Courthouse and offer information in the
areas of agriculture, community resource development, family
living, and youth development.
Feel free to call, email, or drop in
during normal business hours. |
